february giveaways

February 3rd, 2015

By Patricia Belyea

SEATTLE WA This month’s giveaways feature Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s newly published book, Double Wedding Ring Quilts, and her Aurifil thread collection. Each giveaway is valued at $125. Four books and thread sets will be given away!

In her book, Victoria tells stories about growing up on a Minnesota farm and her adult life as a modern quilter in Manhattan. She reveals her original approach to double wedding ring quilts with twelve innovative projects. Victoria’s designer thread set includes 12 colorful spools (220 yards each) of 50 wt. cotton thread.

To participate in these giveaways, just leave a comment about why you like modern quilts. Go to BOTTOM OF RESPONSES to add your entry.

The drawing for the giveaway will be held at midnight PST on February 28, 2015. Four winners will be chosen with a random number drawing. The prizes will then be shipped anywhere in the world.

The Modern esthetic as I understand it, is a breath of fresh air in quilting. Not more precise and elaborate, but re-imagining those good old formations of squares, triangles and circles. And best of all, the liberation of quilting!

I love that they’re different from what the non-quilting people think of when they think of quilts. I love the asymmetry and randomness and eclectic style that can be found in modern. And the simplicity too!

I love modern quilting because I feel like it connects generations of people who may never cross paths otherwise. I love seeing my daughter get excited about quilting and meeting older ladies who have quilted for years and they have something to talk about it and share. I remember as a young woman in my 20’s quilting with ladies much older and loving it but at the same time wanting something fresh and modern so I am thrilled with all the new, fresh and modern quilting!

Love Modern quilts because they are so fresh and lively, with unexpected pops and design! I also love it because it’s creating a buzz among a whole new generation of quilters, and ensuring an age-old art has increasing longevity as it is adapted and continued.

I love modern quilts because they are DIFFERENT! I am not a fan of things that feel “canned” or the “same ole same ole”… I don’t want a replica of something that someone else has, I want something that’s unique. And now that I have discovered making my own fabric (thank you for teaching that Victoria), I can REALLY be an individual and let my creative spirit fly! 🙂

I like modern quilting for it’s continuation of quilting, the reinvention of the classics, and a fresh approach to traditions.
Thank you for the chance to win such a great giveaway, It doesn’t get much better than an inspiring book and thread!!

I love modern quilts because it creates uniqueness and really embraces freedom of individual expression…where nothing is impossible ! I love seeing the vast variety, the fun and the creativity expressed.

I really adore Victoria’s modern quilts, since they are rooted in tradition. There are a few other modern quilt designers I like, but Victoria’s always appeal to me. They look like she played, and had fun. She has a great eye for color.

I love how modern quilting is reinventing and invigorating so many classic, traditional patterns and opening them up to a whole new level of design. Victoria’s creative vision and her use of “made fabric” are so freeing and fun and inspiring!

Love modern quilts! It is about color, freshness and happy feelings! Making a wedding ring quilt is on my list of “to do”. Would love to win a book and thread! What a treat it would be! Thank you for the chance to win.

Modern Quilts offer a free, yet sometimes structured approach to addressing design in regard to space–whether negative or positive, color–often clean and pure, and often muted, coupled with the unadulterated pleasure of making one.

Wow…. You are too generous!!
I will see you in Lincoln Nebraska and my sister Margo will be there too…
We are way too excited to see your work and learn from you…
Please bring your Blessed Mary piece… I’m dying too experience its beauty

I began my career as a traditional quilter and moved quickly into art quilts, but what I appreciate the most about ‘modern’ quilting is the combining of both styles. An entire new generation of quilters has been formed because of it! Thank you for the opportunity to win.

There are two reasons I like modern quilts. One is the bright colours and the contrasts with white. I love colour. The second is the white space for quilting. I love to quilt on the longarm and like dense quilting. Modern quilts give the opportunity to combine stitches in blocks and make for lots of visual interest.

Bonjour
I try to comment in my bad english. I like very much modern quilts fot their lovely and bright colors. I began to quilt several years ago, but this year begin to use Kaffe Fassett fabrics.
They are really so nice to patch.

modern quilts caught my eye because of the color! i love bright colors and love working with different color combinations. i am not a designer in any form but i do love to work with colors….prints, solids or geometrics doesn’t really matter….orange is my current favorite….i love traditional quilts but what victoria does with the DWR simply astounds me…i want to see more….

I love the twist modern quilting puts on the old traditional patterns! I also love the use of bold bright colors and the infusion of polka-dots!! The combination of old with new…is truly inspiring! Love Victoria’s work and am keeping my fingers crossed!

Love the freeness of ideas she puts into the old stand by patterns. Being a farm girl as well I relate to the many quilts on the bed to keep warm in the house with not furnace. Much older than Victoria of course and always could use another box of the yummy Aurifil thread colors for my work.

I don’t like quilts with old fashioned designs and colours. Every row with the same block Design. I LOVELOVELOVE Victoria’s quilts – I just bought the Double wedding Ring ruler/Template :-))
To win THE Book would be :-))))))))))!
Liebe Grüße from Germany,
Kathrin

I love the fun colors or linear designs in many of the modern quilts. I love that there are so many different directions one can go with color and design. I love that many are simple enough for beginners to use to make their own designs. I love the freedom.

Modern quilts are such a wonderful way to attract new quilters, as well as adding an element of challenge to those who have been quilting for years. Sometimes i meed to be whacked on the head to see another direction!

As a longarm quilter, I LOVE all the negative space. It gives me a chance to get creative and use my quilting to enhance the fabric and piecing. I love the bright colors and randomness of some of the designs.

I am president of the Baton Rouge Modern Guild, I HAVE to like modern! LOL. It is so much more comfortable than stiff traditional quilting. the free, open spaces, the new way of thinking of the blocks, it is all amazing and wonderful.

I like the modern quilts that reinterpret tried and true quilt blocks. It makes a connection between past quilters and present quilters! That is one reason I appreciate the creative spirit of Victoria Findlay Wolfe; she is bringing new life into this old and precious textile tradition.

I have just discovered Victoria and find her amazing! Her double
Wedding ring quilts are spectacular . I would love to have her book. Modern quilts make you look at the quilt as a piece of art. The quilter adds a new dimension with her own interpretation making the quilts fresh and bright.

I think most of the modern quilts are easy to piece, have a pop of color and are always pleasing to the eye. I have been quilting for more than 20 years, I have never thought that throwing a pop of color into the mix would be so stunning. Thank you for the great giveaway.

Modern guilts, take a old pattern and make it look new. It shows how quilting can change with the times. Taking a old pattern and just change the colors or the placement of the colors, and you total new. Just amazing. Takes my breath away.

Oh, how I do love wedding ring quilts and have been wanting to check out this new book.

I love modern quilts for their refreshing designs that provide visual impact, yet allow the eye to rest and enjoy the overall design and color. I also enjoy that they tend to be perfect designs to topstitch quilt simply, or very detailed free-motion quilting and either way they always look great.

Modern Quilts are fascinating – sometimes built with traditional blocks, yet, with new color placement will bring a whole new meaning to the story the quilt is telling. They often have an element of surprise.

Hi there: thank you for the give away. As we know, quilts last for years and years and it is only fitting that quilts are part of modern society. Who doesn’t like curling up with a nice warm quilt, hot chocolate and a really good book. All quilts are beautiful and modern quilts are beautiful too!!

I love Modern Quilting because it is fresh, sometimes uses more solids and negative space. I especially love it because it allows someone like me who is not traditionally trained to explore, experiment and create something uniquely mine.

I make them because I adore the traditional blocks in new and more timely ways to reflect my current era lifestyle with fabrics and placement of them in the more traditional block setting or just design my own creation.

Modern quilt designs are closer to fiber art (which I love!) and allow for more freedom of color choices, asymmetrical patterns and plenty of negative space for FMQ. Modern quilting updates an old tradition with fresh ideas and – best of all – lots of young people interested in quilting!

Modern quilts have a whole different twist to quilting. Bolder colors, bolder designs, not the same old/same old patterns. A new way to look at older more traditional designs that make them “new” again.

While I am a lover of Civil War reproduction quilts for my own home — the modern quilts are great inspiration for my work, they bring in a whole new generation of younger quilters, they tend to be made up of simple shapes which are less intimidating to the newbie quilter than complicated multi-piece blocks which gives timid newcomers the courage to try quilting.

Modern quilts remind me of the quilt booklets that were published in the 50’s and 60’s. Since I saw these in the 80’s I thought they were printed in those colors because it was easier — the colors seemed so how subdued and I loved them. Of course, in the 80’s you couldn’t buy those colors.

Honestly, I’m pretty traditional in my quilting tastes and a lot of the modern quilts are just too funky for me. However, when you take an traditional old pattern, give it a new twist and throw in some awesome vibrant colours, then I’m hooked.

I like modern quilting because it leaves room to accommodate whatever the quilter brings to it, seen through a modern eye. V. Findlay Wolfe’s modern Wedding Ring quilts exemplify what I mean: tradition made fresh and modern.

Everything old is new again….modern quilting just makes everything pop the colors, the patterns, the machine quilting…..I love it all!
Thanks for the chance to win Victoria’s newest book and thread line……..she is a wiz!
Happy Sewing

Leaning toward the contemporary in regard to decor preference, I like modern quilts because one can take elements from traditional quilt styling and easily apply those selected elements to ultra-modern projects.

Victoria’s Wedding Ring quilts are exactly what I love about Modern quilts, they are clearly based in tradition but she blows the sides off the box of the traditional! I love this book, and only sew with Aurifil, so I truly am crossing my fingers that I win!!!

Modern quilts are very exciting and fresh in that they are open to all kinds of new interpretations of old designs, creation of new ones, unhampered by tradition, and limited only to one’s imagination.

I am an artist. I love modern quilts because they are so unexpected. The colors are sometimes unexpected and the pattern/design is as well. I just finished a double wedding ring quilt in all wild colors, oranges, bright yellows, and turquoises. It is a fun, happy, wild quilt!

My favorite part about modern quilting is the “thinking outside the box,” or rather, “thinking outside the block.” It’s trying different emphasis than what’s been done before, using the negative space, combining fabrics in creative ways and free-form piecing.

I didn’t like modern quilts at first because they took me out of my comfort zone as I thought of myself as a traditional quilter. However, now I love modern quilts because they enable me to play with space and colour.

I love modern quilts since the first time I seen them. It must have been in the mid 1990’s, I was born in the mid 50’s, and I was thinking of making a quilt but politely complaining that I didn’t like the same old thing and wished a person could make a quilt like those beautiful paintings. My friend said, why can’t you? I had been sewing since I was three and nothing made more speechless than that simple question. Suzy sent me some clippings and photo copies of quilts and even checked books out of the library for me showing beautiful quilts. What a wakening. I still have not made the dream quilt, though I have experimented with wall hangings which proudly hang in my stair way. This might be the push to get to my goal that I need.

With the modern quilt movement has come more popularity and recognition of quilting as an art form. It has allowed more flexibility and possibilities in quilting. I love how it has brought more young people into the art.

Modern Quilting lured me back to textiles and quilting particularly as a new medium after 40 years. Clean lines, negative space,and vibrant design and be expressed either with simplicity or great complexity. It is all up to the artist, the best part!

Modern quilts take traditional designs up a notch, making them fresh and new. They are often playful and spontaneous. Modern quilts make the best use of all the great fabrics available today. Love them!

I love the bright colors used in so many of the modern quilts or how they’ll just add one bright to a quilt with blacks or greys making that color really pop. Thanks for the giveaway and the chance to win.

I just love the creativity…that every quilter can add their own style and there are so many new patterns. While traditional quilts are beautiful, I think modern quilts just show a lot more personality.

I have always liked the scrappy look and have a lifetime collection of fabric to use. Her enthusiasm and ideas want me to use this fabric instead of buying new. One regret I have in fabric collecting was passing up yards of the brightest orange fabric at a thrift store because it was 100% polyester.

Love modern quilts for the openness but love Victoria’s take on Double Wedding Ring quilts. I was lucky enough to hear her speak at Minnesota Quilters but her book wasn’t out yet. I loved seeing those quilts in person and hearing her story.

I enjoy the free play that occurs when the designs are influenced by tradition but made personal with the choice of fabrics, quilting.
Nothing cookie cutter here. Each quilt is an original, pure form of free expression.

I enjoy working with vibrant colors in threads and fabric. I am also inspired by the ability to make use of my fabric stash by creating new fabrics to incorporate into my quilts. The modern quilt process allows me to bring various themes forward in my own way.

What I love about modern is the use of my creativity to inspire my quilt. Sometimes this makes the piecing go faster, which is nice in a crunch. It makes me really reflect on design choices. I’m just learning to do this.

Been quilting for 40 years…always on the lookout for a new thought/process. I want to make each of my six grandchildren (ages 4 – 14) a queen size quilt. Think they will like modern rather than traditional.

Oh, I love modern quilts because of their bright colours and various patterns.
I NEED Victoria’s book 🙂 I love her quilts veryveryvery much! The double wedding rings, the cute scrappies and all other things! I just bought the DWR ruler, so the book would be really matching :-))
Thank you for the chance,
Kathrin

The modern quilting movement encourages quilt makers to push the boundaries…color palettes, the scale of the blocks, prints and solids (negative space encouraged), and spinning traditional blocks into new blocks of wonder! And, the modern quilting community is very welcoming–and I love that! I’ve made more quilts in the last 5 years than I made in the previous 20 years! Victoria’s quilts are all quite stunning, and if her new book is anything like her 15 Minutes of Play book, she will have another hit on her hands. She is inspiring. Last, Aurifil is the very best thread that I’ve ever used. My 30 year old Bernina loves this thread! I would love to win the book and the thread!

Got the link to your blog from Victoria’s ~
I like the fresh and bold look of modern quilts! I wanted to make quilts years ago but didn’t like what I saw at the time. I’ve been making quilts for the last 5 years because of the modern movement!
Thanks for the giveaway and the chance to win!

Hi there,
I like modern quilting as it gives us more ‘room’ to express ourselves. The clean lines and mostly solid colours really stand out compared to other times in quilting history. I love, love Victoria’s take on traditional quilt blocks!!!
Thanks!

Modern quilting combines old techniques and the liberated quilting “invented” by Gwen Marston, so it gives the quilter unique freedom to do exactly what her heart desires. I love the modern fabrics, so many of which remind me of Scandinavian design, and as I grew up in Denmark, that’s very nostalgic to me at the same time as very fresh. I also love the return of solids which had been almost absent from the contemporary quilting palette.

There are so many things to love about Modern Quilting – changing up traditional quilts, negative space, color, simplicity, boldness or flip it around to calmness, no quilt police, and freedom to play and explore!

I like modern quilts because they are fresh and free looking. I sometimes imagine the pieces floating away from the quilt when I look at a modern quilt. I like the colors, the negative space, the quilting.

I love your innovative ideas and sense of color and design. As a fellow midwesterner, hope to connect up with one of your summer workshops. Sounds more and more like it would be a tremendous learning experience for me.

Modern quilting is all about creativity. It allows a quilter endless possibilities to explore color and design. Modern quilting is freedom to cut, sew & quilt in a way that allows the individual quilter’s personality & creativity to be expressed in their own unique style, with or without reference to historical quilting designs. Personally, modern quilting has giving a freshness to my work.

I am a traditional scrap quilter who has fallen in love with modern quilts and am now beginning to work on some modern quilt designs. Victoria’s quilts are incredibly inspiring! Thank you so much for this opportunity.

I like modern quilts because they seem to be an extension of the quilter’s personality. The contemporary fabrics that have come from this movement have been truly wonderful. Thank you for the gracious giveaway!

I love modern quilts because of the all the wonderful fabric choices! Mixing those modern colors and prints into traditional blocks makes such a difference. I just love exploring color and design in my quilting.

I love modern quilts because they all have their roots in the quilts that came before. It suggests that quilting will not die out, only grow and imbed new traditions for future quilters, deepening the history of this wonderful craft.
Thanks for this great giveaway, and for the inspiration Victoria! I’m getting married next year, I’d love to have a go at a modern Double Wedding Ring, so please enter me for a chance to win, thank you.

I love the modern quilts because of the fabric choices. So many wonderful colors and designs. I would love to learn how to make one so it could be passed through the generations. Thank you so much for the chance to win and good luck to all. 🙂

I love that in modern quilts there are far less rules. I like the fresh shapes and the freedom available in them. I love how VFW has reinterpreted classic designs and made them so fresh and modern! What a great giveaway, thanks!

I am teaching my 13 yr old granddaughter to quilt. I find the patterns (called modern) are a reinvention of the traditional quilt. Since all quilts made in this century are modern. It is a tremendous source to take a traditional or antique quilt and reinvent your quilt through your mind’s eye. A “modern quilt” is just that. You are a part of that quilt. I love the quilting process of all the space a modern quilt is. This will continue to interest the younger women and men. To carry on their crsft. One day those “MODERN QUILTS ” WILL BE ANTIQUES. Where will the path of creativity take us
Such an adventure! Fiber and thread.

I like the crossover of art quilting with utilitarian quilting in modern quilting. Getting away from strict adherence to pattern and symmetry and reworking traditional patterns are some of my favorite modern quilting iterations, and something Victoria does especially well!

I love the modern quilt look; you can use brights/solids; make your own fabric like Victoria does. I love how you have so many options for quilting a modern quilt. It lets the creative juices flow and it truly is your own quilt!

i have to say that I LOVE Victoria Findlay Wolfe.
I have all her books. I have taken a workshop with her when she visited Baltimore Hertige Quilt Guild. Tried to take a class at QuiltCin this last week but couldn’t get in because the class was full. So I took my second lecture from her. I got home and have been so inspired to get to quilting.
Hoping to win some of her favorite threads!!

My favorite colors are bright pastels which I think make up much better in a more modern quilt design. I am an accountant by degree and find that I am constantly trying to break away from always having symmetry. The more modern quilt designs allow me to do so.

Patricia! I have been a fan of Victoria’s Bumblebeans site for years now, and loved her idea of “15 minutes of play”, would love to have met her too! I love modern quilts because increasingly I enjoy free form designing and quilting up on the design wall. I love the flow of colour and shape, love the vibrancy. I love generating unplanned strip sets and recutting them into blocks and elements…great for “therapy sewing” days.

Modern quilting has changed my life. First and foremost, it has given me a community to learn from, to share with and to be challenged by. Modern quilting in its simplicity or boldness or wonkiness or precision inspires me to keep on creating.

it is a open way of processing and translating information on cloth. A way or capturing the shapes and spaces of our time. Looking around us and recording what is so, just the way our ancestors in our many different cultures did in their time. Not redefining traditional quilting or even challenging the current styles present in art quilting, to me Modern is just that. What we are reflecting using cloth, of our environment. In sixty to one hundred years modern will again look different.

Oh my! There is so much I like about modern quilts! Some of the reasons are:
– clean lines
– fresh interpretation of traditional patterns
– vibrant color combinations
– bold graphics
– innovative approach to the actual quilting
– creative energy that comes from being open to new ideas and techniques.